Monthly Archives: October 2016

Paid activists of the British Labour party (joined by supporters in the pacifist Belfast left) today attempted to use the guise of an anti-Tory austerity protest to promote efforts to organise electorally in the six counties, an intention which flies in the face of basic Socialist doctrine and traditional Labour claims to be ‘Anti-Imperialist’.Sporting a banner proclaiming ‘Ireland did not vote for Tory cuts / break the connection with England’ IRSP activists distributed leaflets to all those in attendance, focusing on the traditional Socialist aspiration of Irish independence and encouraging the Belfast left to return to the cause of National Liberation as espoused by Marx, Lenin and James Connolly.

British Labour Party banner at City Hall

In recent months British Labour activists have been hosting meetings across the six counties aimed at building support for standing candidates in occupied Ireland; they have been supported in their efforts by the self styled ‘Socialist party’ formerly ‘Millitant Labour’ a dissident Labour party splinter group who effectively support the partition of Ireland and stronger links with the British left as a safe alternative to traditional Marxist aspirations towards Irish Freedom.

IRSP hand out leaflets to the pacifist left, urging them to adopt the socialist position

At a gathering at Belfast city hall, the IRSP in a civilised fashion gathered alongside the Labour activists with a view to offering the traditional Republican Socialist message, reminding them that Ireland was a subjected nation which has never had a chance to vote either for or against Tory cuts and promoting the wider cause of Irish independence as the principled socialist response to the continued economic and political oppression of our people.

Paid New Labour workers refused to speak to IRSPers

The IRSP attempted to engage those in attendance in debate on the importance of the issue and while some younger members of the Socialist Party admirably agreed to do so, the full time Labour workers refused, appearing un-confident in their purpose and showing physical distain when told that they were speaking to the IRSP.

The Irish Republican Socialist Party holds to the traditional Labour principle of full Irish independence and anti-imperialism and promises that any attempts to dilute that principle under a false flag of Socialism will be challenged and exposed.

The leaflet urging those in attendance to return to the Socialist position.

Below is the video of the oration given by Eddie Collins of Derry at the graveside of Saor Eire activist Liam Walsh last Saturday (the video title mistakenly says Kevin Collins; also note this is only half the oration):

The following is a letter sent to the Sunday Times in Dublin on October 13:

Sir,

There appears to be a small-scale effort to undermine the UCC project attempting to document those executed by the IRA during the War of Independence. Kevin Myers, Tom Carew (both 2 October) and now Gerard Murphy (9 October) have had a go. Murphy in particular questions the professional standards applied. UCC historian Andy Bielenberg answered convincingly on the project’s behalf last week, 9 October.

Given the standards applied in Murphy’s much-panned The Year of Disappearances (2010), his allegation is surprising. To give one example: in chapter 50 (of 58) Murphy alleged that six unnamed, untraceable, though, paradoxically, ‘well known and prominent’, Cork Protestants were disappeared by the IRA on St Patrick’s Day, 1922. No hard evidence was advanced. Instead the Peter Hart-inspired author cited Cork Protestants in business soon afterwards condemning attacks on Catholics in Northern Ireland, and ‘deny[ing] that they have been subject to any form of oppression or injustice by their Catholic fellow citizens’. Murphy then speculatively observed, ‘for southern Protestants in general, suppression was the price of survival’. To borrow a phrase from Professor Paul Bew in another context, ‘history it ain’t’.

Murphy’s research was not reliable. He should refrain from throwing stones at others.

Between the death of my father a couple of weeks ago and a massive load of work-work, the blog has again taken a back seat.

As of the end of next week, however, I will be unemployed. I have work to do on my house, with an overgrown back yard of fruit, herbs and veges being strangled by weed and I have some stuff to do inside too. Apart from that, however, I hope to make a bit more progress on getting things up on the blog.